Disabled groom stuns bride, guests, stands up from wheelchair for first dance at wedding

After a year of rehab, a wheelchair-bound groom surprised his wedding guests by standing for his first dance with his bride.

Barry MacDowell, 49, and his new wife, Emma, 36, both have Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and met on an MS support website, where they bonded over their shared sense of humour.

Barry, a father of three who has used a wheelchair since 2018, proposed in 2021, and the pair began planning their wedding.

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Barry began physiotherapy to assist him learn to stand, so he and Emma could have their first dance.

When the medley of Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” and Walk the Moon’s “Shut Up and Dance” began to play, he stunned the room by standing up.

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He managed to continue on his own two feet for the entire dance lasting 90 seconds – beating his record for standing up.

Barry said: “The dance was amazing.

“My legs were sore for two and a half weeks after the wedding, but it was worth it of course.

“Every day now I’ve got earbuds in, and I sit and watch our wedding video.

“I love it, I just can’t stop watching it.”

Emma, a former hairdresser, added: “It was amazing to dance with him, although, the whole time I was worried he was about to headbutt me.

“Because of that, I would always have to be behind him pushing him, because at the start he couldn’t self-propel.

“So that dance was a different type of closeness. Until then, I never even knew he was taller than me.

“Now it’s done, it doesn’t feel real – I want to do it again.”

See the video below